PHIL TAYLOR saw off Mervyn King to progress to the second round of the William Hill Grand Slam of Darts on Wednesday night, with World Champions Adrian Lewis, John Part, Steve Beaton & Mark Webster also moving into the last 16.Taylor completed a clean sweep in Group E with a third successive victory, defeating King 5-3 to knock the Norfolk ace out of the tournament.
The three-time Grand Slam of Darts champion now face Wes Newton in the second round on Friday night, and is looking forward to an exciting contest at the Wolverhampton Civic Hall.
"I'm very pleased," said Taylor. "Getting through the group stage unbeaten is the first goal and I've achieved that, and my performances have been getting better with each game.
"I'm feeling good and it's going to be a cracking game against Wes on Friday because he's had a great year."
Steve Beaton joined Taylor in progressing to the last 16, with last year's semi-finalist enjoying a 5-2 win over teenager James Hubbard in their final contest.
Beaton now meets Paul Nicholson in the last 16, following his narrow 5-4 defeat of Magnus Caris which denied the Swede a place in the second round and ensures that he tops Group F with a hat-trick of victories.
"I came out very motivated to win the group and, in the end, I did it the hard way," said Nicholson. "It's a memorable win for me because it my first time past the group stage but I'm determined to go much further."
PDC World Champion Adrian Lewis was joined by Martin Phillips in qualifying from Group H, with the Stoke star defeating Vincent van der Voort 5-2 and the Welsh left-hander overcoming Co Stompe by the same scoreline.
"I've had my problems in the group stage before so I'm happy to have come through it and I think I can go on and have a good run now," said Lewis.
"The format's longer in the second round so you can settle down more but I'm scoring well and feeling confident."
Lewis tops the group following a third straight victory, while Phillips avoided a repeat of his collapse against Stompe in the same situation last year when the Dutchman had come from 4-1 down to win - with the Lakeside Championship semi-finalist this time sealing victory and progression.
Three-time World Champion John Part set up a high-profile clash with Lewis on Friday when he defeated Arron Monk 5-3 to top Group G, with Mark Webster topping the group unbeaten following his win over Holland's Jan Dekker by the same scoreline.
The second round begins on Thursday with the first four games, including 2010 runner-up James Wade against Gary Anderson and home favourite Wayne Jones up against 2008 finalist Terry Jenkins.
Two-time World Champion Ted Hankey meets Michael van Gerwen and debutants Dean Winstanley and Mark Walsh clash for a place in the quarter-finals.
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